Atletico Madrid is building something special – Here’s how they’re doing it

It’s time for Atletico Madrid to stamp their mark on Europe’s super clubs.

Atletico Madrid’s days of submitting to “bigger” clubs and selling off their best talent are over – a notion that was exemplified when Antoine Griezmann announced that he was staying at Atleti during his ridiculous and unnecessary “El Decision” video, amid interest from Barcelona.

Now, you can call Griezmann a drama queen as much as you want, but the fact of the matter is that he’ll be an Atletico Madrid player for the foreseeable future.

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Though often viewed as the younger sibling to Real Madrid and Barcelona, it’s no fluke that Atleti strolled through the Europa League with ease.

They were also in La Liga title contention for most of the season before ultimately finishing second.

This is a team that hasn’t finished lower than 3rd in La Liga since 2012, and has been highly successful in European competitions over the last decade. And you know what? They’re getting better.

Trust in the younger generation.

Their strategy of stockpiling and producing young talent seems like it’s finally starting to pay off. They have spent the better part of the last 10 or so years selling off said talent, either from being “bullied” by larger clubs into selling their best players, or simply by not being a big enough club to keep their stars.

Sergio Aguero, David de Gea, Radamel Falcao, Diego Costa, Fernando Torres, Thibaut Courtois, and Toby Alderweireld are a few names that come to mind.

But Atleti just kept on recycling that money, buying more and more promising youngsters. Perhaps they hoped that if they remained competitive enough, they’d eventually become big enough to keep/attract star players, and to compete with Real and Barca.

It’s beginning to pay off.

In 2014, we started to see this come to fruition when Atleti won La Liga, and were the Champions League runners-up.

From that point on, they were consistently challenging Barca and Real for the La Liga title, and advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals, final, and then semi-finals from 2015-2017, before winning the Europa League this May.

Other players such as Jan Oblak, Saul, and Jose Maria Gimenez have been heavily rumored in the past to be wanted by other clubs.

That said, it seems as though Griezmann’s decision to stay may have influenced his teammates to stay as well, as they, too, recognize that Atleti is building something special.

On top of that, they’ve already brought in Rodri from Villarreal and Thomas Lemar from Monaco for next season, and are now linked with Angel di Maria and Gelson Martins.

The big club transition.

It seems as though Atleti are now transitioning into truly becoming a “big” club, and becoming much bigger spenders than sellers.

Lemar and Rodri will add to a midfield that consists of four academy products in Koke, Saul, Thomas Partey, and Gabi, as well as Angel Correa and Vitolo.

This gives Atleti a ton of depth, which is key when you have aspirations of challenging for multiple trophies. Their versatility also gives Diego Simeone the flexibility to play whatever formation he wants.

If he plays a 4-4-2, Koke can play in the middle with Lemar and Correa on the wings. Both of whom can slide in and play as a pseudo #10 of sorts and allow the fullbacks to get forward when the opportunity presents itself.

He could also play a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 and interchange his players however he deems necessary. If Simeone stays at Atleti for the long haul, he’s going to have a lot of fun setting up his team every week.

They’re incredible on the defensive end as well, boasting the best defense in La Liga (in terms of goals allowed) almost every season for the last decade, and it’s only going to get better.

On top of Miranda and Felipe Luis’ stable veteran presences, an “excited” Lucas Hernandez signed a new long-term contract. 

Sime Vrslajko had an excellent year and appears to have won the starting right-back spot from Juanfran, and Jose Gimenez and Stefan Savic are already such great defenders at such a young age and will only continue to improve.

Scoring against Atleti is going to be next to impossible for years to come.

Add in the fact that Diego Costa is now coming into his first full season in his second stint at Atleti, and this could be one of the more well-rounded teams in Europe.

With a Europa League trophy, domestic success, an insanely talented young core, and a shiny new stadium, Atletico Madrid will no doubt be an attractive club for any potential signees, and I don’t think we’ve seen the last of their spending.

Couple that with the uncertainty that Real Madrid’s managerial change will bring, and Barcelona certain to regress after overachieving this year, and we could very well be talking about a “Big 3” in Spain from now on.

Next: Real Betis are proving to be exciting

What do you make of Atleti’s rise?